Stand by Me
by DancerInTheDark101
Summary: Noctis Lucis Caelum; Prince, comrade, fighter, King, saviour, friend... When the sun finally shines upon Eos again, three friends enter the Throne Room to discover just what was sacrificed in order to bring the light back to the world. *spoilers for the end of the game. Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled*


A/N: Long time no see! Been a few years. Not gonna bore you with why I haven't been writing, but I have been reading an awful lot. Mostly on AO3 now though.

 **HERE BE SPOILERS**. If you haven't finished the game and don't wanna be spoiled as to the ending DON'T GO ANY FURTHER.

Enjoy.

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Prompto, Gladiolus and Ignis stood in the throne room staring at the destruction around them. Sunlight filtered through holes in the ceiling and walls. It was nothing like the day they had last stood in there, saying goodbye to King Regis with the promise to take care of his wayward son.

Since then, so much tragedy had befallen the country of Lucis and so much more to the royal family. King Regis had perished in the attack on their homeland, bravely defending his kingdom to ensure his son still had somewhere to rule over.

Prompto made his way up the steps that lead to the throne. He felt himself trembling and gripped Ignis' arm tighter as if that would help stop the shaking. Beside him, Gladio was a strong presence, his face seemingly carved out of stone.

As they got closer, Prompto couldn't help but gasp.

"No..." he breathed, the trembling moving from just his hands to encompass his entire being.

The Prince had finally come home and claimed his rightful place as King.

Noctis Lucis Caelum; the King of Lucis, was dead on his throne.

His sword, The Sword of the Father, pierced his torso and was pinning the king to the chair. His head was bent, chin touching his chest and his hair falling over his eyes. Both of his arms rested by his sides. It looked as though he had not fought as the blade pierced his heart and stole the life from him. No ring rested on his finger and small shards of glass and metal lay at the foot of the throne.

"Noctis!" Prompto yelled, forcing his hand away from Ignis to sprint up the rest of the steps to be beside his best friend. He stared at Noct's still form, praying to every deity in existence for his chest to rise with a breath.

A few heartbeats later, when there was no movement from the fallen king, Prompto fell to his knees and let the tears fall. He wasn't aware of Gladio and Ignis coming up behind him until two hands were placed on his trembling shoulders.

"Why?" he pleaded, "why did he have to go and die for us?"

"I know it is hard, Prompto. This loss will be felt all over Eos, but Noctis chose this. He knew what had to be done to save this world and he had come to accept this fate. You know how he felt about others sacrificing them for him-"

Prompto's head whipped up at Ignis' words, glaring at the blind man.

"How can you say that?" he snarled. "Noctis is _dead_. He is... was... our friend! And he was the King! If anything, we should have given out lives so he could live and continue to rule over Lucis!"

Everything Prompto had thought, but kept quiet about, was coming to the forefront. When Noctis had explained what he had to do, they had all been supportive of his decision. They knew, as the King, only he had the power to stop the eternal night and save the world from the daemons. They had known that Noctis was most likely not making it out alive, but until a few moments ago, they had had hope. Hope that Noctis had survived, ready to greet them with a smile.

"Prompto..." the stern, but quiet voice of Gladio broke through his retort.

"I can't... I don't want him to be dead," the blonde-haired gunner whispered, al anger vanishing as his eyes welled with tears once again. "He was my first friend... my best friend..." He blinked rapidly, causing the tears to finally drop, creating clear trails down both cheeks on his dirty face and hitting the stone flooring with small splatters.

The throne room was silent for a while as the three friends tried to compose and brace themselves for the next task – removing Noctis' body from the throne and readying him for burial.

Prompto hiccuped as he tried to get his emotions under control. He started to stand and was very thankful for Gladio's and Ignis' steadying hands because as soon as he was upright, he started to sway.

"How..." Ignis' voice was quiet and Prompto squeezed his eyes shut at the absolute devastation in the older man's voice. "How does he look?"

Inhaling sharply, Prompto looked over towards Noctis and wondered what the hell he was supposed to say to that. He watched as Gladio stepped around them and shuffled over to the throne. Prompto didn't think he'd ever seen the big man look so small as he approaching the fallen king.

"He looks like a King."

The words were spoken softly, so softly that Prompto almost missed them. And Gladio was right. Even in his passing, Noctis had that air about him. Ever since he had come back from his hiatus in the Crystal, everything about Noctis had screamed "king".

On the arm of throne was a piece of paper and Prompto reached out to take it, only to stifle a gasp when he saw what it was.

It was a photo of the four of them around the Regalia in Hammerhead. Taken only hours after the trip to Altissia had begun; taken before the fall of Insomnia and the death of King Regis, when the weight of the world hadn't yet settled on their shoulders. It was the photo Noctis had asked for moments before heading into battle Ardyn.

Prompto gripped the photo tight, almost ready to crush it at the unfairness of it all. But something stopped him at the last moment and he laid it back on the arm of the throne.

A sharp gasp brought him out of his thoughts and his head snapped up to stare at Gladio.

"He's... he's _smiling_."

Gladio had pushed Noct's hair out of his face and titled his head back to rest against the throne and they were finally able to see their King's face. His eyes were closed, face pale underneath all the dirt and grime. Stubble decorated his chin as it had done his reappearance.

Noctis looked at peace. At the moment of his death, the King had been smiling.

They were startled out of their reverie as the sword piercing Noctis' chest shattered into a million pieces before fading into nothing. If anything, the disappearance of the Royal Arm cemented the fact that Noctis was no longer among the living.

"He is at peace now. Perhaps enjoying a nice day fishing with Lady Lunafreya?"

Prompto couldn't help but let out a small laugh at Ignis' words. That was something that Noctis would definitely love. Fishing and Lunafreya; the perfect afterlife. It would just be missing three very important things.

"Yeah, I'm sure he would love that. Oh, and eternal sleep-ins!" Prompto exclaimed through watery eyes, fondly remembering the then-prince's love of sleeping.

"I'm going to miss him..."

"I we all will, Prompto. He may be gone now, but Noctis Lucis Caelum will never be forgotten. And we were just some of the very fortunate few who were able to spend time with him. We were all able to see him grow, from just a boy to the King before us now," Ignis spoke, his voice thick with emotion.

"Let us show respect to the last King of Lucis, and our friend, before moving him to a Royal Tomb," Gladiolus said as he took a step backwards. Prompto followed his friend and gripped Ignis' arm to lead the man.

Standing in front of Noctis, the three friends bowed to their king one last time.

It took time, but they were able to get Noctis' body out of the Citadel and transport him out of the city. As per the king's wishes, they were going to cremate his body and spread his ashes over the bay in Altissia, the resting place of his former bride-to-be. A Royal Tomb would be constructed in the Crown City in time, but his remains would be with his love.

For the first few weeks after Noctis lifted the eternal night, people were afraid every time the sky would darken, wondering if, somehow it would remain forever. And yet every morning the sun would still rise. Slowly life returned to normal. The Crown City was rebuilt. However the Citadel remained in ruins, no one having the heart to repair it for a family that no longer existed. Only those with special permission were able to enter the Citadel and even less were allowed in the throne room.

One year after the lifting of the eternal night, Prompto, Gladiolus and Ignis stood in the ruins of the throne room, staring up at the empty chair. Each one of them bowed and whispered their thanks to their friend.

As Prompto finished he straightened and opened his eyes, only to gasp. A brilliant beam of sunlight was encasing the throne in a dazzling light and Prompto swore he could see Noctis sitting on the throne with Luna in her wedding dress asleep at his side. Eyes wide in shock, Prompto watched as Noctis looked up and smiled at them before fading away with the light.

"What...?"

Prompto looked over to Ignis at his quiet exclamation. "Iggy?" He looked absolutely astounded.

"For a moment, I swear I saw Noctis..."

And that was the exact second Prompto knew that Noctis was okay and that one day in the future they would all be together again, road tripping across Lucis in the Regalia. Maybe they'd even listen to _Stand by Me_.

Noctis Lucis Caelum; Prince, comrade, fighter, King, saviour, _friend_.

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This game has seriously destroyed my heart lol.

Thanks for reading


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